The Henley Passport Index (HPI) – an annual global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom of their citizens – placed the Pakistani passport at #102 in its 2019 list of most and least powerful passports of the world list.
HPI has been compiling and issuing this list since 2006 which rank and lists passports from over a hundred countries according to the number of destinations the citizens of these countries can visit without obtaining a visa.
Pakistan’s passport has continuously found itself lingering in bottom half of the list.
HPI Top 20 Passports 2019
HPI Passport Rankings of Muslim-Majority Countries 2019
12: Malaysia
21: Brunei
22: UAE
49: Bosnia
50: Albania
52: Turkey
56: Kuwait
59: Maldives
60: Qatar
63: Bahrain
67: Kazakhstan; Oman
70: Saudi Arabia
72: Indonesia
74: Azerbaijan; Tunisia
76: Kyrgyzstan
79: Morocco
80: Mauritania; Tajikistan; Uzbekistan
82: Senegal
83: Mali
84: Niger
85: Chad; Turkmenistan
88: Algeria; Jordan
89: Egypt
91: Nigeria
93: Djibouti
94: Kosovo
96: Iran
97: Bangladesh; Libya
99: Sudan
101: Yemen
102: Pakistan
103: Somalia; Syria
104: Afghanistan; Iraq
*China’s passport is ranked 69 and India’s is at 79.
The Pakistani passport: The downward spiral
Even though global passport rankings were introduced in 2006, it is believed that if the strength of the country’s passport before 2006 was to be explored by using the HPI ranking and scoring model, the Pakistani passport – from 1961 till 1974 – would have been one of the top 30 passports of the world.
Pakistani Passport HPI Rankings 2006-2019
2006: #79
2007: #83
2008: #87
2009: #87
2010: #90
2011: #99
2012: #100
2013: #91
2014: #92
2015: #103
2016: #103
2017: #102
The Pakistani passport has been a mirror of the persistent existentialist tussle in the country itself. The evolution of its look and content has reflected what Pakistan as a polity and a nation stands for.
Pakistan came into being in 1947. According to moderates and liberals, Pakistan’s founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah envisioned Pakistan as a project to conceive and initiate an entirely modern, flexible and pluralistic strand of Islam, which could then go on to inspire the rest of the Muslim world.
On the other hand, conservative and religious intelligentsia insists that Pakistan was created as a jumping pad to launch a theological state. They maintain that this was to be done through legislation from above and evangelical activity from below, which would then shape a ‘unique’ Islamic state.
This battle has raged on and it becomes even starker when it is played out in the corridors of political power. The initiatives in this context have gone to and fro between the liberal/moderate narrative and the conservative one.
The evolution and trajectory of this battle can also be traced in the transformation of the Pakistani passport.
HPI has been compiling and issuing this list since 2006 which rank and lists passports from over a hundred countries according to the number of destinations the citizens of these countries can visit without obtaining a visa.
Pakistan’s passport has continuously found itself lingering in bottom half of the list.
HPI Top 20 Passports 2019
- Japan
- Singapore; South Korea
- Germany; France
- Denmark; Finland; Italy; Sweden
- Spain; Luxemburg
- Austria; Netherlands; Norway; Portugal; Switzerland; UK; USA
- Belgium; Canada; Greece; Ireland
- Czech Republic
- Malta
- Australia; Iceland; New Zealand
- Hungry; Latvia; Lithuania; Slovakia; Slovenia
- Estonia; Malaysia
- Liechtenstein
- Chile
- Monaco; Poland
- Cyprus
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Bulgaria; Hong Kong; Romania
- Andorra; Croatia; San Marino.
HPI Passport Rankings of Muslim-Majority Countries 2019
12: Malaysia
21: Brunei
22: UAE
49: Bosnia
50: Albania
52: Turkey
56: Kuwait
59: Maldives
60: Qatar
63: Bahrain
67: Kazakhstan; Oman
70: Saudi Arabia
72: Indonesia
74: Azerbaijan; Tunisia
76: Kyrgyzstan
79: Morocco
80: Mauritania; Tajikistan; Uzbekistan
82: Senegal
83: Mali
84: Niger
85: Chad; Turkmenistan
88: Algeria; Jordan
89: Egypt
91: Nigeria
93: Djibouti
94: Kosovo
96: Iran
97: Bangladesh; Libya
99: Sudan
101: Yemen
102: Pakistan
103: Somalia; Syria
104: Afghanistan; Iraq
*China’s passport is ranked 69 and India’s is at 79.
The Pakistani passport: The downward spiral
Even though global passport rankings were introduced in 2006, it is believed that if the strength of the country’s passport before 2006 was to be explored by using the HPI ranking and scoring model, the Pakistani passport – from 1961 till 1974 – would have been one of the top 30 passports of the world.
Pakistani Passport HPI Rankings 2006-2019
2006: #79
2007: #83
2008: #87
2009: #87
2010: #90
2011: #99
2012: #100
2013: #91
2014: #92
2015: #103
2016: #103
2017: #102
The Pakistani passport has been a mirror of the persistent existentialist tussle in the country itself. The evolution of its look and content has reflected what Pakistan as a polity and a nation stands for.
Pakistan came into being in 1947. According to moderates and liberals, Pakistan’s founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah envisioned Pakistan as a project to conceive and initiate an entirely modern, flexible and pluralistic strand of Islam, which could then go on to inspire the rest of the Muslim world.
On the other hand, conservative and religious intelligentsia insists that Pakistan was created as a jumping pad to launch a theological state. They maintain that this was to be done through legislation from above and evangelical activity from below, which would then shape a ‘unique’ Islamic state.
This battle has raged on and it becomes even starker when it is played out in the corridors of political power. The initiatives in this context have gone to and fro between the liberal/moderate narrative and the conservative one.
The evolution and trajectory of this battle can also be traced in the transformation of the Pakistani passport.